


Change of Plan

by alvares715



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Ladynoir | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Ladybug, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:27:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29084619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alvares715/pseuds/alvares715
Summary: Now that Adrien is dating Kagami, Marinette decides that she needs to move on. And she stumbles upon the perfect person to move on to.Set after season three.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 95
Kudos: 330





	1. The Misunderstanding

Marinette had enough.

She loved Adrien so much. But after seeing him and Kagami together after the first day of their new school year, she couldn't handle it anymore.

Her chance to be with him was gone. He was with Kagami, and that was it. It didn't matter how much she loved him. Because he didn't love her back. She finally had to face facts.

The quick walk home was filled with tears. Once reaching her bedroom she threw herself down onto her bed and sobbed uncontrollably.

Her kwami Tikki tried to console her. "Oh Marinette," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"It's over Tikki," she managed to choke out. "I can't keep doing this to myself. Adrien will never love me back."

"You don't know that..."

"Yes, I do. I should have realized it a long time ago but I wouldn't let myself. He loves Kagami, and now they're together. It's over."

"But I thought they weren't officially dating?" Tikki asked.

Marinette wiped her face. "They were holding hands when they met up after school. What else could that possibly mean?"

Silence as the kwami didn't know how to respond.

"I don't know what to do," the girl continued. "Maybe I should just date Luka. I know that he likes me. And maybe going out with him will finally force me to move on."

"You shouldn't date Luka just to get over Adrien. That's not very fair to him."

Another sob came out. "I know, I know. I'm just so tired of being alone."

"You're not alone Marinette, you have me!"

She sighed. "You know what I mean."

"It won't be like this forever," Tikki argued gently.

"I'm sorry Tikki but I... I'm really tired right now. We'll talk about this later." She closed her eyes and turned onto her other side.

The kwami flew away to give Marinette some space. Her heart broke a little every time she heard a sniffle.

Marinette stayed in bed until her mother called her down for dinner. As the family ate, her parents could tell that there was something wrong, but they didn't want to pry.

Once in her room again, she went back to her bed. She just didn't have the desire to do anything other than lie down and cry the night away.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

A loud groan escaped her lips when she heard her phone chime. That particular chime meant one thing, an akuma attack.

Tikki flew up to her.

Marinette looked over. "Let's get this over with. Tikki, spots on," she said unenthusiastically. She transformed into Ladybug and climbed out to her balcony through the hatch above her bed. Then she grabbed her yo-yo and swung off across the city.

This akumatized villain was wreaking havoc at the Trocadero Gardens. She was relieved to see that Chat Noir was already at the scene when she arrived.

As soon as the akuma was purified and everything went back to normal, Ladybug went to grab her yo-yo to leave.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Chat Noir asked, walking over to her with his fist out.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, I've been having a bad day," she replied apologetically.

They fist bumped. "Pound it."

"I'm sorry that you're having a bad day," Chat Noir said. "But I'm actually really glad that there was an akuma attack today."

She looked at him confused. "Really? Why is that?"

"Well, it's been exactly one year since we met. I wanted to say 'Happy Anniversary' to our friendship."

Ladybug tilted her head. "Oh Kitty, that's so sweet of you to remember that."

He shrugged. "It was one of the happiest days of my life, I'll always remember it."

"Me too," she replied before going up and hugging him. Chat Noir happily hugged her back.

They stayed like that for a minute until Ladybug pulled away, tears in her eyes.

His face fell. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

She looked up and gave him a small smile. "I just really needed that, especially after today."

He returned the smile. "I'll always be here when you need me."

"I know," she whispered, caught in his gaze. Then without thinking she leaned forward, closed her eyes and smashed her lips into his.

Completely taken by surprise, Chat Noir's eyes widened as he tried to comprehend what was happening. After a moment he closed them and leaned into the kiss.

Not even five seconds went by before Ladybug's earrings started beeping. They both opened their eyes at the noise, their lips still connected.

With a look of panic Ladybug pulled back. "I... I'm s... sorry," she sputtered.

He shook his head. "No, it's okay," he said quickly.

Silence as they stared at each other for a moment, her eyes full of uncertainty and his eyes full of hope. They stared until she leaned in and kissed him again. This time he quickly kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She responded by putting her hands into his hair.

They stayed there the rest of the minute until her earrings beeped again.

Ladybug pulled back and looked up at him, half embarrassed and half horrified. "I... I need to go."

He didn't let go of her. "Please don't go, we still have time."

"No, I only have two minutes left. I... I need to get home," she argued, pulling away from his grasp.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asked desperately.

"I uh, I don't think so," she replied, pulling out her yo-yo.

"Please M'lady, meet me at our spot tomorrow night. Whenever you can, I'll be there."

"I have to go," she said tearfully before swinging off.

Chat Noir watched her disappear into the distance and smiled to himself.

This had to be the best day of his life. Ladybug kissed him. Twice. And it was even better than he imagined it would be. With a happy sigh he finally left the park and went home.

Landing in his bedroom, he detransformed into Adrien. His kwami Plagg did not seem happy when he came out of his ring.

In contrast, Adrien had a goofy grin on his face. "Wonderful night, isn't it?"

"What in the world are you doing kissing Ladybug?" the kwami demanded.

"Actually, _she_ kissed _me_ ," he sighed.

"Well, what are you doing letting her kiss you?"

"What kind of question is that? You know I'm in love with her!"

"She's not in love with you," Plagg countered.

"Her lips would suggest otherwise," he replied smugly.

"And what about Kagami?"

"What about her?" Adrien asked, confused.

"Aren't you two dating?"

"Of course not, we're just friends."

Plagg narrowed his eyes. "Then what was with the hand holding today? That's something that _couples_ do."

"She grabbed my hand. How else was I supposed to respond? I didn't want to upset her by pulling away."

"You know that you're leading her on," Plagg scolded.

"Alright, alright. I'll talk to Kagami. I'll make it clear that I'm not interested in having a romantic relationship with her. Happy now?"

Plagg groaned. "You're setting yourself up for disappointment, kid. I don't want you to come crying to me when this blows up in your face."

"Don't worry about it, Plagg. Ladybug and I will be together, and we'll be happy. You'll see," Adrien said, walking away.

************************************

"I can't believe that I kissed him!" Marinette yelled as she paced back and forth in her room. "Twice!"

"Calm down," Tikki said. "So what if you kissed him?"

"You know that Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug. And now I kissed him. He's going to be heartbroken when I tell him that it was a mistake."

Tikki sighed. "Why _did_ you kiss him anyway?"

"I don't know," the girl said, throwing her arms into the air. "He was just so sweet, talking about our anniversary... and saying that he'll always be there when I need him. I don't know... I'm still really upset about the whole 'Adrien dating Kagami' thing. I wasn't thinking!"

Tikki tried to contain a smile. "Adrien might not be dating her as much as you thought."

Marinette glared at her. "How is _that_ helpful right now?"

"Sorry," she muttered. "But come on, what's wrong with Chat Noir? Why don't you give him a chance?"

"Besides the fact that I'm in love with someone else?"

"You said it yourself, Marinette. You need to get over Adrien," Tikki reminded her.

"And _you_ said that I shouldn't date someone else just to get over him!"

"Come on," Tikki continued. "You might really like Chat Noir."

She sighed. "He's my partner. We need to be able to work together. Don't you think it will be too complicated if we're in a romantic relationship?"

"Don't you think it will be too complicated if you break his heart after telling him that the kiss was a mistake?"

Marinette covered her face with her hands in anguish.

The kwami flew up to her. "I'm sorry Marinette," she said gently. "Why don't you just get some sleep. Maybe things will be clearer in the morning."

The girl nodded and wiped her face.

************************************

Marinette stared at the back of Adrien's head during class. She got the seat right behind him again, which gave her a perfect view of that perfect head of blond hair.

The sound of the bell ringing made her jump in her seat. Slightly embarrassed, she gathered her things as Adrien and his best friend Nino stood up to leave.

Her best friend Alya stood up too and sighed as she waited for her. "What's going on girl? You're so spacey today."

"Uh, nothing," she lied.

Not fooled for a second, Alya crossed her arms. "You know you're going to tell me eventually, so just spill it."

Marinette glanced over at the guys, who were now walking out of the room.

Alya followed her eyes and turned back. "Is this about Adrien?" she asked her quietly.

"Kind of," she admitted, finally standing up and putting her backpack on.

"They were just holding hands. It doesn't prove anything."

Marinette looked at her best friend skeptically. "Yeah, I totally hold hands with guys that I'm _not_ dating all the time." Then she froze as she thought of something. Nope, she only _kissed_ guys that she wasn't dating.

Clearing her throat, Marinette made her way towards the door, the other girl right behind.

"Well, why don't we go ask him?" Alya suggested. "Then we'll know for sure."

"Absolutely not!"

"Relax girl, _I'll_ do it. And I won't even ask him directly."

Marinette groaned as they caught up to Adrien and Nino in the courtyard.

"Hey Adrien!" Alya called over to him.

"Oh hey Alya, what's up?"

"Well me and Marinette are trying to coordinate a group trip to the movies. We'd love for you to come with us. What's your schedule like this week?"

"Wow, that sounds awesome. My schedule, let me think." He stopped and thought for a moment. "Well tonight's definitely not good, and tomorrow..."

"You have plans for tonight?" Alya interrupted.

"Uh, yeah I do."

"What are you doing?" she continued.

"Oh, I uh... uh..." he stammered as the biggest, most genuine smile came on his face. He put his hand to the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"What, do you have like a hot date tonight or something?" Nino joked.

Adrien's face blushed. "Uh, actually yeah. Something like that."

Nino chuckled. "Way to go, dude! That's awesome."

"Thanks," he replied. "So I'm busy tonight. And honestly, I'm hoping that tonight leads to more nights after this one, so I'm really not sure when I'll be available for the movies. Can I get back to you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Alya said, disappointed.

"Well I have to go meet up with Kagami. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Adrien said before walking to the door.

"Good luck tonight!" Nino yelled after him. He chuckled again until he met Alya's death stare. "What?"

Alya gestured over to Marinette, who was staring at the ground. She was focusing all of her energy on not crying.

His face fell. "Oh, uh... what I _meant_ to say, is..." Nino mumbled.

"Don't worry about it," Marinette said quietly. She awkwardly readjusted her backpack. "I told you," she added, looking at Alya.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette," her friend lamented.

"It's fine. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I uh, I have to get going. See you guys tomorrow."

Alya and Nino said their goodbyes and watched her leave the building.


	2. The Question

Adrien didn't know how Kagami was going to take the news. He didn't want to upset her, but Plagg was right. He couldn't keep leading her on with his indecisiveness.

His heart belonged to Ladybug, and always would. So this had to be done.

He had called her that morning and they agreed to meet up at the park after school. Kagami's face lit up when she saw him arrive.

Adrien mentally prepared himself for an unpleasant reaction. She didn't exactly take bad news well. She had already been akumatized twice before, and hopefully today wouldn't be the third time.

But if she _did_ get akumatized, he would see his Lady even earlier than they had planned...

He shook his head, trying to rid the thoughts of Ladybug from his brain. It was time to focus. He had to tell Kagami how he truly felt and that they weren't meant for each other. She deserved that much at least.

With a strained smile on his face he greeted her.

"I'm so glad that you invited me out today," she commented. "Although, I don't know why you wanted to meet me here."

"I just... really needed to talk to you," he explained.

Kagami smiled. "About?"

"Um... about us."

"I think I'll like that topic of conversation," she said, moving closer to grab his hand.

"Actually Kagami," he said, backing up a little. "I need to tell you that I don't want to date you."

Her smiled disappeared before she froze in her spot.

"That... that came out harsher than I expected," Adrien continued. "I'm sorry. It's just that, well... you're a great person, Kagami. But I'm not interested in you like that." Then he stopped, waiting for her reaction. He watched as her expression changed from shocked, to saddened, to angry.

"You dragged me all the way here to tell me that you _don't_ want to date me?" she demanded.

He nodded slowly.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I, uh... I didn't want to lead you on anymore. And I'm sorry that I wasn't more honest with you from the beginning."

She averted his gaze as she processed the information.

"I'm really sorry Kagami, but I thought that you deserved to know." He glanced around, half expecting to see a purple butterfly fluttering through the air.

After a long tense minute, she finally spoke again. "Well, I guess that's it then."

He blinked. "So... you're okay?"

"Of course not," she snapped back. "But what am I supposed to do? I'm not going to _force_ you to date me when you're not interested."

"I'm really sorry Kagami," he repeated quietly.

"Yeah, me too," she said before she turned and walked back to her car.

************************************

Adrien felt terrible on the ride home. But once he got to his room, he remembered that he was meeting Ladybug in a few hours. Happiness refilled his heart as he thought about her.

He was so in love with her; he had been ever since the day they first met. Her confidence and bravery were so attractive. It might have taken a very, very long time, but his dream of dating her was finally coming true.

Plagg watched as Adrien practically danced around his room. "I hate to burst your bubble," he said. "But she's probably not going to show up tonight."

"Of course she will," the boy replied.

"She didn't show up last time, remember? You ended up crying your eyes out on Pigtail's balcony."

"I wasn't crying. And besides, things were different back then."

Plagg groaned and flew off. There was just no reasoning with him when he was in his fantasy world.

Adrien showered and changed his clothes before going down to dinner. After a quick meal all alone, he brushed his teeth. Then he anxiously watched the clock. Time was going by much too slowly for his liking. When it started getting dark outside he finally transformed and left his house.

But he didn't go empty handed. There were a few things that he brought with him. After all, everything had to be perfect for his Lady.

Their spot was a rooftop near the Eiffel Tower where they would always meet up for patrol. Ladybug really seemed to like the view of the tower from there. And he really liked that she really liked it.

He quickly set everything up and then waited for her to arrive.

An hour went by, but it wasn't a big deal. It was still early. He passed the time by thinking about what he would say to her. And then he had to decide if he should go right in for a kiss as soon as she arrived, or if he should wait until she initiated it. After that, he started thinking about when they could finally reveal their identities to each other. He hoped that it would be soon.

Another hour passed. His thoughts moved on to their future together. How long would they have to wait until they got married? How many kids would they have? Two is a nice round number, but who knows? More would be great too.

So many happy thoughts filled his head as he waited. In fact, he was so wrapped up in them that he didn't even hear the sound of her feet landing on the rooftop.

"Chat Noir?" she said, startling him.

He thought his heart would burst from happiness as he locked eyes with her. "M'lady, I'm so glad you're here," he replied, standing up and walking over towards her.

She looked around at the candles and the blankets as he reached her. "Did you set all of this up?"

"Of course. I wanted you to be comfortable while we were here."

"Oh Chat," Ladybug sighed. "You didn't have to do this."

"I wanted to," he said softly. He reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand. "You know that I'd do anything for you."

She stared up at him. Why did he have to be so incredibly sweet? This would be so much easier if he was a total jerk.

"Chat Noir, I..." she began before trailing off, caught up in those piercing green cat eyes of his.

Ever so slowly, he started leaning in towards her.

She needed to stop him, but her mouth didn't want to work. At least, not like that. So instead, she let him lean all the way in and kiss her. Once their lips were connected, she closed her eyes and let her mind go.

Chat Noir moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her head and put his other hand to her waist.

After a few seconds they broke apart. It took Ladybug a moment to refocus when she opened her eyes again. Meeting his gaze they stared at each other. Then they both moved forward at the same time, rejoining their lips. He quickly pulled her even closer as they continued kissing. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck.

Running out of breath, they had to break apart again. This time Chat Noir smiled at her. "I love you," he whispered.

Those three little words made Ladybug come out of whatever trance that she was in. She blinked a few times before leaning away and pulling back her arms.

Her reaction caused his smile to disappear. "I... I'm sorry," he sputtered. "That was stupid."

Her expression changed again. Now she seemed insulted.

"No, not that loving you is stupid," Chat Noir continued. "Just that _saying_ it at that moment was stupid."

She nodded slowly. "Maybe I should go."

"No M'lady," he begged. "Please don't go. We... we can sit down and talk."

She took a moment to think it over. "Yeah, we should do that," she finally replied.

Grabbing her hands, he guided her over to the blankets. They both sat down, facing the other. Ladybug opened her mouth to speak but Chat Noir beat her to it. "Can I ask you a question?"

Complete panic. "Yes," she squeaked.

"What's your favorite color?"

The panic disappeared as a smile crept onto her face. "What's my favorite color?" she repeated. " _That's_ your question?"

"Well, yes. I really want to know," he replied, smiling brightly. "Let me guess," he continued. "Red?"

Ladybug laughed. "Actually, no. Red is not my favorite color."

"What is it then?"

A moment's pause. "It's pink."

He nodded, lost for a second in thought. "So that's why you wouldn't accept my roses before. They were the wrong color."

Her smile faded slightly. "I accepted your yellow flower, remember? Yellow for friendship? You have no idea how much that meant to me Kitty."

"Well now I'll have to get you a pink rose."

She shook her head. "I think the yellow one was perfect."

His face fell. "But, I want to get you a pink one. To show you how much I... you know... like you."

Ladybug had to look away. The tears were already threatening to fall from her eyes. "We can't date each other. It'll ruin our friendship."

Leaning forward, Chat Noir put his hand to her chin and gently turned her head so she would look at him again. "It won't ruin anything, it'll make us stronger..."

"No," she argued. "It will change everything. We won't be able to do our job effectively."

"Please M'lady, I love you. And I felt something back when you kissed me. Now, if you don't want to date me, that's one thing. But if you're saying all of this because you think that us being together will somehow affect how we protect Paris, that's different. We're a team. And no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

"But how is this supposed to work?" she asked, her voice trembling. "We can't go out on dates, we can't tell anyone that we're dating, we can't even talk about our lives to each other. I'm sure that's not the type of relationship that you want."

"I want you," he said softly. "I don't care about all that extra stuff. And besides, it won't be like this forever. Eventually we'll find out our real identities and then we can be together like a normal couple."

Ladybug lowered her eyes down to avoid his gaze. She was trying her best to hold the tears back, but some still managed to escape.

"Please," he continued. "Just give me a chance. If you change your mind about anything, I promise that I'll respect your decision."

She turned to look at the Eiffel Tower for a minute. So many thoughts crossed her mind. Thoughts of Adrien. Thoughts of Luka. Thoughts of her conversations with Tikki. But her mind somehow ended up on thoughts of how she felt when she was kissing Chat Noir.

Finally she turned back to look at him. "You promise?"

"I promise," he told her with a loving smile.

She nodded her head slightly. "Okay," she whispered.


	3. The Conversation

School was a blur.

Adrien kept daydreaming about the night before. He couldn't believe that he was officially dating Ladybug. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever felt happier.

Marinette was in a slight panic. Had she just made a huge mistake? There was no doubt that she enjoyed her time with Chat Noir, but did that mean that they needed to be in a romantic relationship? The last thing she wanted to do was to leave him heartbroken.

But he did promise that he would respect her decision if she changed her mind. Hopefully he would keep his promise. If it ever came to that, of course.

The bell rang to signal the end of school. Marinette gathered up her things and walked with Alya downstairs. They were right behind Adrien and Nino, who were talking to each other. She couldn't help but eavesdrop on what they were saying.

"So how was your _hot date_ last night?" Nino asked, wiggling his eyebrows at him.

Adrien laughed. "It was okay," he said simply, a big smile plastered on his face.

"Just okay? You seem awfully happy today for it to have been 'just okay,' dude."

He looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "Are you really going to make me say it?"

"Of course!"

Adrien sighed dreamily. "It was the best night of my life."

Nino chuckled. "That's awesome, man. Congrats. We'll all have to go on a double date sometime."

"Uh, yeah. Maybe."

When they got to the door, Adrien turned around. Both Marinette and Alya took a step back. They had both moved in close in an attempt to listen to the conversation. "Oh hey Alya," he said. "I wanted to tell you that I won't be able to go to the movies with you guys this week. I kind of want to keep my schedule open for a while. But I hope that you have a great time."

"Uh, thanks for letting me know," Alya replied.

Adrien looked over at the girl next to her. "Hey Marinette. I'll catch you guys later," he said before turning back around.

She gave a weak reply as he went outside.

Alya looked over at her. She wanted to say something to comfort her friend, but didn't know what.

Marinette noticed her stare. "It's okay Alya. Don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"We both know that you're not."

She sighed. "Maybe not, but I will be. Seriously, you don't have to worry about it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya," Alya said sadly, watching her leave.

Marinette started on her short walk home. She would be fine, just like she said. There was simply no other option. She would never end up with Adrien. It was abundantly obvious that he was happy with Kagami.

Not to mention that she was technically in a relationship with Chat Noir now. He was sweet, caring and trustworthy, and they got along exceedingly well. That was just what she needed at the moment.

He would help her get over her crush on Adrien. After all, it was long, long overdue.

Once she reached her bedroom she dropped her backpack on the floor and smiled to herself. She couldn't believe it, but she was actually looking forward to meeting up with Chat Noir that evening.

************************************

Everything was set up just like the night before. He even had a pink rose waiting for her.

Once again he let his mind wander as he waited. Three. Definitely three kids. And a hamster. Maybe a cat? Nah, they would still have Plagg. He was enough. And he couldn't forget that Tikki would be there too along with the other kwamis. Yes, he and Ladybug would have a large, happy family together.

"You seem lost in thought," Ladybug said cheekily, walking over to him.

He jumped up and gave her a big hug, holding on for a full minute. "I missed you," he whispered after pulling back and looking into her eyes.

She tilted her head slightly and smiled. "I missed you too."

"Really?" he asked, surprised.

With a small laugh she nodded.

"You're so wonderful," he continued before kissing her. "Oh, this is for you," he said, pulling away and picking up the rose.

"Oh Kitty, I told you that you didn't have to do that."

"My beautiful Lady deserves all the flowers in the world. This is the least that I could do."

She smiled and took the rose from him. "Well thank you very much."

"You're welcome, now come sit down. I have another question for you." He grabbed her hand and they sat down together.

"Is this going to be a daily occurrence? Every day a new question?"

"Of course! How else are we going to get to know each other?"

Her face fell. "We're not _supposed_ to know anything about each other," she reminded him.

"A few minor things won't hurt. Come on, M'lady," he pleaded. "Just one question."

After a moment's pause, she sighed. "Alright, just one."

Chat Noir smiled triumphantly. "What I want to know is if I've ever met you in real life. Like when I was transformed but you weren't."

Ladybug looked down, trying to keep a smile from spreading across her face. She failed miserably.

"I have?" he asked incredulously.

She looked back up and nodded. "Yeah, and you even saved me."

His mouth fell wide open. "Are you telling me that I had you in my arms as your real self and I didn't even know it?"

"Yup!" she laughed.

He slouched over. "I am so mad at myself right now, you have no idea."

More laughter. "It's not that big of a deal, Chat. You were focused on doing your job. And you know that I appreciate that," she said leaning towards him and putting her hand to his cheek.

He half smiled. "You met me in real life too."

Now it was time for her mouth to fall open. "Really?" she asked, lowering her hand down.

"Yeah, and you saved me."

"That's crazy!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it. Who would have thought that we've bumped into each other before?"

"It just goes to show you that we're made for each other, M'lady."

She smirked at him. "You know that since we're dating now that you can't flirt with any more damsels in distress, don't you? Because you never know, it might be me. And you wouldn't want to get into trouble," she teased.

He scoffed. "You know that you're the only one I flirt with."

"Uh huh," she murmured, pretending not to believe him. "Of course I am."

A loud gasp. "How you wound me, M'lady!" he joked, putting the back of his wrist to his forehead in dramatic fashion.

She couldn't help it, he was just too cute. So she quickly closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his. After a second she pulled back to look at him. "Do you have any other questions for me today?" she asked.

"No," he replied breathlessly, shaking his head.

"Good," she whispered. Then she leaned in again.

************************************

Marinette kept yawning in the middle of her first class. She and Chat Noir had stayed out late. They had spent a long time in a high stakes lip battle. A battle that Chat Noir very graciously and happily lost.

The minutes dragged on and on as her teacher Miss Bustier talked about 'Romeo and Juliet.' She finally had to prop her head up with her hand and close her eyes. Thoughts of the night before filled her mind as she drifted into a light sleep.

Chat Noir was a really good kisser.

"Marinette?"

Like, _really_ good. It was too bad they didn't start dating sooner. If only she had given him a chance way back when he originally asked her out.

"Marinette?" a voice said again.

Suddenly she felt something touch the hand that was resting on her desk. She snapped her eyes open to find Adrien turned around in his seat, his hand on hers, shaking it gently to wake her up.

"I... I'm sorry," she sputtered, immediately pulling her hand away from him.

He smiled. "It's no problem. Here," he said, handing her a pile of papers.

Marinette looked down at them confused.

"You're supposed to take one and pass them on," Adrien whispered.

"Oh, right! Of course," she replied, her cheeks flushing. She took one paper and turned around, handing the rest to Ivan behind her.

When she turned back Adrien was still looking her way. "You seem tired."

"Uh yeah," she mumbled. "I stayed up too late. Didn't get enough sleep."

He nodded. "I'm pretty tired too."

She scrunched up her face. "You don't _look_ tired. You look... perfect."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her cheeks flushed a deeper red. Surely she would die from embarrassment right there in her seat. Adrien was going to think that she was such a weirdo. I mean, who says stuff like that?

But he surprised her by smiling. "Thanks Marinette. That's really nice..."

"Adrien! Marinette!" Miss Bustier called out. "Is my lesson interrupting your conversation?"

They both looked over at her sheepishly. "Sorry Miss Bustier," they chimed as all of their classmates snickered around them.

"Please wait until after class to engage in personal conversations," the teacher added before continuing with her lesson on Shakespeare's famous play.

Marinette finally turned her attention to the paper in her hand. She was purposely ignoring the smirk from Alya next to her.

The rest of the class passed by without incident. When everyone got up to leave, she caught Adrien's eye. "I'm so sorry that I got you in trouble," she told him as they started walking out of the classroom together.

"No, don't be sorry," he commented. "It was completely my fault. I was the one who started talking."

"Well, you only started talking because you were trying to wake me up," she argued.

"I should have just handed you the papers and turned back around. It's my fault for getting distracted."

"You were helping me!"

They kept going back and forth, both insisting that it was their own fault. Alya and Nino followed behind them with bewildered expressions on their faces. Marinette was having a normal conversation with Adrien. They had never seen that before.

"One hundred percent my fault," Marinette continued as they reached their next class. "And that's the end of the discussion!"

Adrien smiled sweetly at her. "Alright."

She nodded, satisfied that she won the argument. "Good. I'm glad that's settled."

They stared at each other for a moment until Marinette realized that she was actually talking with Adrien. There was no stuttering and no awkward pauses. What in the world was going on? "Uh, so anyway... have a great class," she mumbled before hurrying off to her seat.

Adrien kept his eyes on her until she sat down. Then he went over to his own spot. It was strange, but he had never realized how much he liked talking with Marinette. She was usually so nervous around him, so it was difficult to have a conversation with her. But today she seemed different, more relaxed. It was really nice. Hopefully, he would see more of this Marinette in the future.


	4. The Argument

The akuma alert sounded on Marinette's cell phone as she was putting her plate in the sink after dinner.

"Well, I have a bunch of schoolwork tonight," she told her parents. "I think I'll go get started on that and then go to bed early. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Of course, sweetie. Go right ahead. We'll take care of the cleaning," her mother said.

"Have a good night," her father added.

"Goodnight!" she replied before climbing the stairs to her room.

Once inside, she quickly checked her phone for the location of the attack. Her kwami appeared next to her, ready to go.

"Tikki, spots on!" she called, transforming into her superhero alter-ego. After that, she ascended the steps to her loft and climbed out to her balcony.

The akumatized villain was near the fashion district of Paris. Her skin was a light shade of blue, her outfit a darker blue bubble dress that was cinched at the waist with a diamond studded belt. She had a face full of makeup and her long hair was pulled up into a high ponytail at the crown of her head. The buildings surrounding her were either scorched or currently on fire, and smoke was billowing into the air.

Ladybug looked around quickly as she arrived at the scene. Chat Noir was nowhere to be found.

The villain didn't seem surprised when she landed on the street in front of her. Instead, she smiled. "Ladybug, just the one I wanted to see. I'm Pyronixa, and I hear that you have some pretty little earrings on those ears of yours. Why don't you hand them over? I need them to complete my ensemble."

Ladybug spun her yo-yo around, using it as a shield. "Sorry, I'm kind of attached to them," she replied.

"Well then, I guess that I'll have to be a little more persuasive." She ran her hand across her belt, the diamonds on it changing from white to a rainbow of colors as her hand moved past. When she got to the end, a fireball formed in her hand. Then she smiled evilly as she held it.

Ladybug's eyes widened. Well, that explained why everything was on fire.

"Change your mind yet?" the villain taunted.

"Not yet." She took a step forward but had to jump out of the way as the fireball was thrown at her.

The villain quickly ran both of her hands across her belt in opposite directions, a fireball forming in each one. Then she hurled the first with all of her strength.

Ladybug had to jump again to dodge the attack. But she couldn't react quick enough for the second fireball. She braced herself for a hit but instead felt herself be wrapped up and pulled away by a pair of arms.

Chat Noir propelled them onto the nearest building and carried her a few rooftops over before letting her down. "Are you okay?" he asked, frantically checking her to make sure that she wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine," she replied, smiling at him. "Thank you Kitty."

"You shouldn't have done that, Ladybug. You shouldn't have approached her by yourself. Next time, you need to wait until I get here."

Her face fell. "What are you talking about?"

"She could have really hurt you!"

Ladybug blinked up at him. "My suit would have protected me..."

"It doesn't matter! Please, just wait until I get here next time," he interrupted, a stern expression on his face.

She was super confused and getting irritated. Why was he acting this way? There was never a problem before.

"I'm doing my job, Chat. I'm saving Paris. That's kind of why we're here, remember?" she asked with some anger in her voice.

His expression softened a little at hearing the anger. "I... I'm sorry M'lady. I love you so much and I just don't want you getting hurt."

She stared up at him. So that's what this was about. Their relationship. "I'm fine," she repeated with more anger. "Now come on, we have work to do."

He nodded.

"I think that the akuma is in her belt," Ladybug continued. "That's where her power is coming from. Let's use our fire power-up to give us some extra defense, and then I'll try to distract her so that you can get close enough to cataclysm the belt."

"Okay... but instead of that, how about you stay here where you're safe? I can handle this one on my own. I'll go destroy the belt, and then you can purify the akuma."

She glared at him. "You _can't_ be serious."

"Please M'lady," he said, moving up and putting his hand to her cheek. "It's too dangerous."

"You're wasting our time," she seethed. "Now you can help me fight this villain, or you can go home. The choice is yours. I need to get back to work." She pulled away from him and split her yo-yo open. Reaching in, she grabbed a mini red macaron and popped it into her mouth. "Power up," she said as she transformed into Firebug. Then she looked over at Chat Noir. "So are you coming or not?"

He reluctantly nodded his head. Then he reached into his pocket, grabbed a mini red piece of Camembert and ate it. "Power up."

When they were both ready, she threw her yo-yo into the air. "Lucky charm!"

A red and black spotted baseball bat fell into her hands.

************************************

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Pyronixa was released from the akumatization as all of the damage from the attack was fixed.

"Spots off," Firebug said, turning back into the regular Ladybug. She helped the woman stand up and gently explained what happened.

Once the woman walked away, she and Chat Noir made eye contact. He approached her and extended out his fist. "Pound it?"

She lacklusterly raised her arm and fist bumped him. "I have to go."

"Can we talk for a minute?" he asked desperately. "Please?"

She sighed. "Real quick. But let's go somewhere more private," she said, eyeing the crowd that was still dispersing. Grabbing her yo-yo, she swung herself up to the closest rooftop.

Chat Noir used his staff to follow her.

"Is this the way that things are going to be from now on?" she asked before he even had the chance to say anything when they landed. "Because if it is, then we _really_ need to reevaluate our relationship."

"I'm so sorry. And I know, I was totally out of line. It's just, the thought of something happening to you drives me crazy."

Her earrings beeped, earning another sigh. "I have to go."

"Will you still meet up with me tonight?" Chat Noir asked.

"I'm tired, Chat. I need to get some sleep."

"Then tomorrow? Please?"

She thought for a moment and nodded. "I'll meet you at our spot tomorrow."

A relieved smile crossed his face. "I can't wait until then." He walked up to her and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Get some rest, M'lady."

"I will," she whispered, not meeting his gaze.

His smile disappeared as he stepped back. Then he watched her take off across the rooftops, his heart aching as she moved farther and farther away.

************************************

After a long deep sleep, Marinette woke up the next morning refreshed. She was feeling so much better than the day before. Physically at least. Mentally, she wasn't so sure.

Chat Noir had definitely acted irrationally the evening before, but she still couldn't help but feel like maybe she had overreacted. After all, he was looking out for her. He was genuinely concerned for her safety. Just the way he went about it was wrong.

They would have to address it when they met up that night.

Marinette got to school early and took her seat in Miss Bustier's classroom, waiting for Alya to arrive. But it was Adrien who showed up first.

And he did not look good. He had bags underneath his eyes like he hadn't slept a wink. This was not the Adrien Agreste that she was used to seeing.

He looked at her as he went to his seat. "Hey Marinette," he mumbled.

"Hi Adrien," she replied. "Are you alright? You look horrible." Then she stopped, appalled by what she said. "That... that's not what I meant," she sputtered.

Adrien laughed lightly. "No, it's okay. You're probably right. I must look just as bad as I feel right now."

"Did something happen?"

"It's kind of personal," he explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You definitely don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

He looked at her for a moment before speaking. "No, I don't mind."

She nodded in surprise. "Okay."

After putting his bag down, he took his seat and spun around to face her. "I did something stupid and now my... friend is upset with me."

Marinette raised her eyebrows. His 'friend.' Right. He was obviously talking about Kagami.

"What did you do to upset her?"

He cocked his head. "Why do you assume that it's a girl?"

"Oh come on, Adrien," she said, leaning towards him. "It's super obvious. You wouldn't be _this_ worried about the situation unless it was about someone that really means a lot to you."

He looked down, contemplating her words. "She does mean a lot to me," he whispered.

"Well if that's the case, you'll have to make things right with her. Whatever you did, just apologize. I'm sure she'll forgive you if you're sincere about it."

"You really think so?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course. I mean, you're a great guy Adrien. And she probably thinks so too." Marinette suddenly reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear in a nervous twitch. There she was again, saying things that were completely inappropriate. She had a boyfriend, she shouldn't be telling other guys that they're great.

"Thanks Marinette," Adrien replied with a big smile. "I think that you're great too."

Well that was a relief. He said it back, so he definitely knew that it was a platonic statement.

"Thanks," she squeaked out.

"And what are you two chatterboxes talking about?" Alya asked as she came over and took her seat. Nino sat down in front of her.

"Uh nothing, just life," Marinette answered casually. There was no way that she would betray Adrien's trust by discussing his situation with other people. He had confided in her.

Adrien smiled wider, grateful for her discretion. She gave him a small smile back before he turned around to face the teacher.

************************************

'Nervous' was an understatement. Chat Noir was so beyond nervous, it was unbelievable. He had to fix the problem that he created with Ladybug. He just had to.

With his heart racing, he paced back and forth as he waited for her at their spot. Two days ago they were happy together. Now he was praying that he hadn't ruined his chances with the girl of his dreams.

There were no distracting thoughts that night. Chat Noir saw Ladybug in the distance as soon as she came into view. He held his breath when she landed silently in front of him.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Ladybug, thank you so much for coming here tonight."

"It's no problem, Chat. I uh, wanted to apologize for yesterday," she said, looking down. "I really overreacted, and I'm sorry."

This had to be a dream. _She_ was apologizing to _him_?

"No," he argued. "You have nothing to apologize for. Yesterday was entirely my fault and I feel horrible about what happened. Please forgive me."

"You were just trying to protect me," she argued back. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"You had every right to get angry..."

"No, I didn't. We're partners. You're allowed to suggest ideas for our attack plan."

"No, all I did was undermine you." He moved right up to her. "Now that's enough of this. It was one hundred percent my fault," Chat Noir continued. "And that's the end of the discussion."

Ladybug smiled up at him. She was so relieved that they had worked things out. "Okay," she said.

He started to lean in but stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot!" he declared, grabbing her hand and pulling her over to where the blankets were set up. He picked something up off of the rooftop. "These are for you!"

Her eyes widened when she saw the bouquet of a dozen pink roses in his hand. "Chat," she gasped. "They're absolutely beautiful."

"Just like you."

She looked back up into his eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied as she took them and brought them up to her face to smell them.

With the bouquet still in her hand, she wrapped her arms around his neck. "So, do you have any questions for me today?"

"I only want to know one thing tonight. Can I _please_ kiss you again?"

She tilted her head slightly. "I think that's my favorite question yet."


	5. The Decision

A few weeks went by.

Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to meet up every night, but it wasn't always possible. Sometimes an akuma attack ruined their plans. Sometimes their busy schedules did. And sometimes they were rained out of their spot.

They were both disappointed when they couldn't get together. But they both always felt better at school when they got to hang out with their new best friends: each other.

Now that the option of being in a romantic relationship with Adrien was off of the table, Marinette was so much more relaxed around him.

She knew that Adrien and Kagami must have worked things out because the day after their discussion, he went back to being his cheerful self again. And she was genuinely happy for him.

She felt more at ease, and her personality was finally able to shine through. He found her so easy to talk to, and they started hanging out more and more throughout the school day.

It was crazy to think, but it actually worked out perfectly that they never dated. Marinette was happy with Chat Noir and Adrien was happy with Kagami. What could possibly go wrong?

"So, Alya is trying to set up a movie night again," Marinette told Adrien on their way out of the building at the end of the day. "I know that you're super busy but she wants everyone to go."

"I don't know Marinette," he uttered, putting his hand to the back of his neck. He really didn't want to cancel a night with Ladybug.

"Please? You need to say 'yes' so I can get Alya off of my back. "Pleeeeeeeeeease!" she whined, grabbing his other hand and flopping it around.

Adrien chuckled.

"You can even invite Kagami," she continued. "Come on, it'll be so much fun!"

He scrunched up his face. "Why would I invite Kagami?"

"You know, so you two can still have your date night. I know you hate missing them."

"I... I'm not dating Kagami," he sputtered.

She paused for a second and then tilted her head. "You guys broke up?"

"No, we didn't break up. We _never_ dated."

They stared at each other completely confused.

"But... your hot date? The girl that you upset and had to apologize to? Weren't you talking about Kagami?"

He blinked a few times, suddenly realizing what was going on. Of course Marinette thought that he was talking about Kagami. He couldn't exactly say that it was Ladybug. So she, and probably everyone else, naturally assumed that he was dating Kagami. "Uh no, I wasn't. I mean, Kagami's a great girl, but we're just friends. I was... talking about someone else."

Marinette blinked back. "Oh okay, I'm sorry. I always thought that you were talking about her. So, you're dating someone else then?"

He nodded. "Uh, yeah."

"Okay. Well, what's her name?"

Total panic. "Uh... uh..." he sputtered as he racked his brain. "Her n... name is.... her name is... Juliet."

And suddenly he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Marinette would never believe that.

She smiled. "That's a pretty name."

"Yeah," he replied relieved. "You don't know her. I uh, met her at a photoshoot."

"That's nice. Well, you can invite Juliet to go to the movies with us if you want."

"Oh uh, her parents don't let her go to the movies."

Marinette looked confused again. "That's strange. Why not?"

"I mean, not just the movies. Go other places too. They, uh... they're very overprotective."

She nodded. "Oh okay, I get it now. But that's too bad. I guess that you won't want to go then," she said disappointed.

Silence for a moment. "Friday."

She tilted her head again. "What?"

"I can go to the movies on Friday. I mean, who knows? Maybe... her parents will change their mind."

"Oh I'm so excited!" Marinette exclaimed, her face lighting up again. "And Alya will be happy too."

He finally smiled. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

"Awesome, it's going to be so much fun! Well anyway, I should get going. I need to help my parents in the bakery. But I'll see you tomorrow," she told him before walking away.

************************************

Chat Noir waited for Ladybug. As soon as she arrived she jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his torso. He held her up while they kissed.

Finally she pulled back to look at him. "I missed you today," she whispered.

A huge smile appeared on his face. "I always miss you M'lady."

She giggled and then kissed him again. After that, he carried her over to the blankets and set her down.

"So," she said when they were both seated. "What's the question of the day?"

"Well I was wondering if you've told anyone that we're dating."

She seemed mildly surprised. "No, of course not. You know that I can't tell anyone that I'm dating Chat Noir."

"Yeah, I know," he replied. "But I mean, have you told anyone that you're dating _someone_? Like do your friends or your family know that you're in a relationship?"

"Uh no, I guess not. It hasn't really come up, and I've never said anything about us."

He nodded. "Don't you think that's a little sad?"

She thought for a moment. "Yeah, kind of. But what other option do we have? We have a very... unique relationship."

He leaned in closer to her. "I've been thinking recently, and I remembered that tomorrow is our anniversary."

"Our anniversary?" she repeated.

"Yes. It will be exactly one month since we started going out."

She laughed. "What is it with you and anniversaries?" she teased.

"I just think that they're important. And I was thinking that we should do something special to celebrate. I think that we should finally reveal our identities to each other."

Ladybug's eyes blew wide open. "Chat, you... you know we can't do that."

"Please M'lady? I want to date you in real life. I want to introduce you to my friends and my family. I want to hold your hand and actually feel your skin. I want to take you to the movies and go on real dates. Aren't you tired of only meeting up here at night when there are no akuma attacks? If we knew our identities, then we could see each other all the time."

"Chat, I know that this isn't the greatest setup, but it's all we can do right now. We can't reveal our identities," she said softly.

"But why not?" he asked desperately. "Don't you trust me?"

She sighed. "Of course I trust you..."

"Then what's the problem? You know that I trust you too." He lifted her hand up and kissed the back of it. "Please?"

"Oh Kitty," she whispered, looking down. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't understand what the problem is. You're the Guardian now. You should at least know who I am so that you can find me if there's an emergency."

"Tikki or Wayzz could always find you if I needed them to," she argued.

"Come on, Ladybug. Don't you want to know who I am? Who you've been dating for an entire month now?"

She was quiet for a minute as conflicting thoughts raced through her mind. "Yes," she finally whispered. "I want to know who you are."

He smiled as tears came to his eyes. "Thank you M'lady," he said before leaning in and kissing her. When he pulled back, he caressed her cheek with his hand. "Tomorrow let's meet here again and we'll reveal our identities. It will be so amazing, you'll see."

With a nod she gave him a small smile.

************************************

Marinette couldn't sleep that night. She was torn about what to do. On one hand, she really did want to know Chat Noir's identity. And she wanted him to know hers. But on the other hand, they weren't _supposed_ to know. It was completely against the rules. But then again, dating each other was probably against the rules too.

She desperately wished that Master Fu was still around. He was always so great with giving advice and helping her out.

Settling into an uneasy sleep, she tossed and turned until her alarm sounded. She hit the snooze button and rolled over to her other side. Then she hit it again when it went off a second time. The next thing she knew Tikki was yelling at her. "Marinette! You're going to be late!"

The girl groggily sat up and turned off her alarm.

"You have a big day today!" the kwami said cheerfully. _Way_ too cheerfully, Marinette thought, for the early morning hour.

She mumbled something incoherent and slowly got out of bed. After using the bathroom she went back to get ready for school. "I don't know about this," she said to Tikki.

"I know that you're nervous, but this is long overdue."

"Overdue? We're not supposed to know at all!"

"But Chat Noir is right, you're the Guardian now. Things are different than they used to be," Tikki reminded her.

Marinette covered her face with her hands. "I don't know what to do. I'm so confused," she mumbled.

"Just relax and try to clear your mind. Don't overthink it, just go with your heart. I'm sure the right decision will come to you."

"I sure hope you're right Tikki."

************************************

"Marinette?"

Her eyes flew open when the boy sitting in front of her said her name. She couldn't believe it, she fell asleep in class again. Luckily this time the class was over as she saw some students getting up and leaving the room.

Adrien smiled at her. "Another late night?"

"Something like that," she mumbled as she put her books in her backpack.

His face fell a little. "Everything okay?"

"I just... couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts," she said, gesturing to her head. She stood up and walked to the door.

Adrien came up alongside her. "Anything you want to talk about?"

She sighed. "Not really."

He nodded as they kept walking down the hallway. Every couple of steps he glanced over at her.

She could see him looking from the corner of her eye. "Fine," she finally said. "I have a big decision to make, and I don't know what to do."

"A decision about what?"

"It's... hard to explain."

"Marinette, I can't really help without any information."

"I know," she groaned. Then she stopped walking and turned towards him, causing him to stop too. "I agreed to something, but now I'm not sure that I want to go through with it."

He nodded as he pondered her words. "Well if you're feeling uncomfortable, maybe it's best if you _don't_ go through with it. I mean, you shouldn't be forced to do something that you don't want to do."

"It's not that I don't _want_ to. Ugh, I don't know. I think that I'm just... afraid," she said quietly, looking down at the floor. "Afraid that everything will be different." A momentary silence passed before she shook her head and spoke again. "This is ridiculous. I'm freaking out over nothing."

Adrien put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. "You're not being ridiculous, Marinette. If you're feeling _this_ nervous, you shouldn't be doing it. You have to listen to yourself."

She stared into his eyes. "You really think so?"

"Yes, I really do."

A relieved smile came to her face. "Thanks Adrien," she whispered.

"It's no problem, that's why I'm here. Now come on, we're going to be late for class." He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the classroom.


	6. The Collision

The akuma attack couldn't have happened at a worse time. Chat Noir had just reached their meeting spot and was setting everything up when he got the alert. He was personally going to punch Hawk Moth right in the face if he ever got the opportunity.

He was the first to arrive on the scene in downtown Paris. The villain was a large overgrown monster covered in scales, sort of like a lizard.

"You seem to be lost," Chat Noir said when he landed in front of him. "Japan is about ten thousand kilometers that way," he added, pointing over his shoulder.

He was expecting a roar in reply, but instead the creature spoke with a British accent. "I think I'll have you as an appetizer, and your lovely partner as my main course."

The second part of the comment got Chat Noir fuming. No one was allowed to threaten his Lady like that.

"I personally think that I'd be a much better dessert," Ladybug said as she landed next to him. "Since I'm so sweet and all."

Chat Noir smiled. "I couldn't have put it any better," he purred over at her.

She smiled back before throwing her yo-yo into the air. "Lucky charm!"

A red and black spotted bullhorn fell into her hands.

************************************

"Pound it!" they said simultaneously as they fist bumped.

Everything was back to normal and the crowd was dispersing.

When Ladybug's earrings beeped, Chat Noir quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into an alleyway off of the main road to have some privacy.

"Why don't you go somewhere to detransform? Then when Tikki is reenergized you can transform again and meet up with me at our spot," he suggested. "I want us to be there for the big reveal. I have it all planned out."

She moved closer to him. "Chat, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "But I don't think we should do this tonight."

The big smile on his face completely disappeared. "What? What do you mean?"

"The reveal. I think we should wait a little longer."

He stared at her for a moment. "What are you talking about? It's already been over a year. Last night you said..."

"Yeah, I know what I said," she interrupted. "But I was thinking about it today, and it's best if we push this off. Just a little bit longer."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I don't want to wait anymore. I love you Ladybug. I love you so much and I'm tired of hiding."

She looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry," she whispered as her earrings beeped again.

A few seconds passed by in silence.

"I can't believe it," he muttered. "I can't believe that you're doing this."

"We're not supposed to know," she replied meekly. "Master Fu told us that."

"Yeah, and Master Fu is gone. _You_ are the Guardian and this is your decision now."

Tears started welling up in her eyes. "I... I have to go."

He shook his head and looked up to the sky, trying to fight back his own tears. "I just want to know who you are, Ladybug. I don't see what harm will come from that."

Her earrings beeped again. She only had a minute left. "I have to go," she cried.

"Then go!" he said angrily, turning his back on her and walking away.

Ladybug put her hands to her face as she sobbed for a moment. After wiping away the tears she looked over at Chat Noir.

He had stormed off to the street. Too preoccupied with his anger, he didn't bother to look where he was going. Not until it was too late.

He didn't have time to jump out of the way of the oncoming car. Luckily for him, a pair of hands pushed him away at the last second.

Unluckily for the girl who pushed him, her transformation wore off just as the car collided with her. Her body slammed against the windshield and then rolled up and over the top of the car, finally coming to a stop once it hit the pavement.

The car screeched to a halt a few meters away.

Chat Noir turned around, completely horrified. He hadn't seen the collision, he only heard the gut-wrenching sounds of her body hitting the car and then the ground. He hurried over to where she was lying in the middle of the street, but slowed down at registering the scene before him. It wasn't Ladybug lying there, it was a girl in regular clothes. And lying next to her was her kwami.

Her shoes gave it away. He recognized them immediately. They were the perfect shoes for a girl whose favorite color was pink. Leaning over her, there was no doubt in his mind exactly who he would see when he pushed the dark hair away from her face.

Marinette's eyes were closed. There was a scrape going down the side of her forehead that was bleeding, the blood slowly running down her face.

Cars were stopping all around them. A few people were getting out of their vehicles to see what was going on.

"No," Chat Noir cried to himself as he propped her up and cradled her in his arms. The beautiful girl, who he had told just hours earlier that she shouldn't do anything that she didn't feel comfortable with, had listened to his advice. And now here she was, unconscious and injured because he didn't respect her decision to change her mind. Even though he had promised her that he would.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," the driver of the car said from behind him. "I swear I didn't see her."

Chat Noir didn't even look over at him. He kept sobbing over Marinette. And he only opened his eyes when he heard her voice.

"Chat?" she asked, barely at a whisper.

He moved back and put his hand to her face. "I'm right here M'lady," he choked out.

"What happened?"

"You... got hit by a car," he explained, the tears pouring out.

She paused for a second. "But you're okay?" she asked, reaching up and caressing his cheek.

He smiled through the tears. "Yeah, I'm okay."

She gave a weak smile back. Then her expression changed when she noticed her hand. She moved it away from his cheek and turned it around in the air to see the back of it. It didn't make any sense. Where were her gloves? Why was she seeing her skin? And why were there drops of blood all over it?

Her eyes slowly moved down her arm. The dark gray blazer finally clued her in to what had happened. She looked back at Chat Noir, her eyes full of panic and tears.

"It's alright," he tried to assure her, pushing the bangs away from her eyes. "It's just me."

Some tears fell down Marinette's cheeks. "Where's Tikki?"

Chat Noir reached over, lifted the exhausted kwami up off of the ground and handed her to Marinette.

"What happened?" people around them were murmuring to each other. "Did she get hit? What was she doing in the middle of the road? What's that red thing? She's lucky that Chat Noir is here."

"I'm going to call an ambulance," the driver of the car said, reaching for his phone.

Marinette held Tikki tightly against her body and looked up at Chat Noir. "Get us out of here," she begged.

He nodded and scooped her up in his arms. She let out a whimper of pain before she buried her face into his chest.

"I'll bring her to the hospital," he said, glancing over his shoulder to the man. "Just go home, she'll be fine."

Before he could respond Chat Noir took off with Marinette. He propelled them to the top of the nearest building and carried her for a minute before stopping on a flat rooftop. He placed her down gently.

"My bag," Marinette said. "I need to get food for Tikki."

Opening up her purse, Chat Noir found a chocolate chip cookie and gave it to her. Tikki started munching as he turned his attention back to Marinette.

"What hurts the most?" he asked.

"My leg, the left one," she told him, tears stinging her eyes.

He rolled up the pant leg. She hissed from the pain.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling absolutely horrible. "But I need to see how bad it is."

She nodded as he continued.

There was already a bruise forming on the side of her knee and thigh. And there were scrapes all over her lower leg. "Anywhere else?"

"This side of my abdomen."

He moved up and touched the bottom of her shirt. Then he stopped and met her gaze. "Is it alright if I look?" he whispered.

She slowly nodded.

He lifted her shirt up a little. He didn't dare lift it up too much. More bruising.

"Anywhere else?"

"Those are the worst."

Continuing to evaluate her, he found a lot of scrapes and bruises. "Do you think that you can stand?"

"Let me try." She placed Tikki down on the rooftop and Chat Noir grabbed her hands to help her. As soon as she put weight on her left leg, however, she cried out from pain and collapsed. He caught her before she fell and guided her back down. "I can't," she cried. "It hurts too much."

"We need to get you to a hospital."

"No," she objected. "They'll ask too many questions. And then they'll call my parents. I can't go to a hospital."

"But what if your leg is broken? What if you have a concussion?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just need to rest for a while, then I'll be better."

"You don't know that..."

"Please Chat," she whimpered. "Please just take me home." She picked Tikki up and held her against her chest as she started sobbing.

Chat Noir nodded and scooped her up again. The sobbing was speckled by whimpers of pain as they traveled. He tried to go as fast as possible while simultaneously not jostling her around too much.

By the time they reached her house, she had stopped crying and seemed to have regained her composure. He kneeled down on the balcony floor and opened the hatch, then lowered her down inside. He climbed in too, landing next to her. His heart rate quickened as he realized that he was in his girlfriend's room, on her bed, with her, all alone.

They stared at each other for a moment before Chat Noir cleared his throat. "Wh... what else do you need me to do to you? I mean, _for_ you," he corrected himself quickly, his face flushing.

"Can... can you help me get downstairs to my living room?"

"What do you need? I'll get it for you."

"No, I need my parents to find me at the bottom of the stairs. It needs to look like I fell so I'll have an excuse for why I'm so hurt."

He couldn't help it. He wrapped her up in a hug. "I'm so sorry Marinette. This is all my fault."

"No," she argued. "It was just an accident. Please don't be upset Kitty."

At hearing the nickname he squeezed her tighter, but had to stop when she gasped from pain. "I'm sorry," he said, letting go of her.

"It's fine." She didn't look at him when he pulled away, instead she kept her eyes down on her bed. "So, if you could just help me downstairs? And then you can go home."

"But I don't want to go home. I want to stay here... with you."

That got her to look up at him. "Chat," she said gently. "You should go."

"Then can I come by tomorrow night to check on you?"

After a pause she nodded.

He smiled slightly and tilted his forehead into hers before closing his eyes. With a sigh she put her hand to his cheek and closed her eyes too. They stayed silent for a minute before Marinette whispered. "I'm sorry... about everything."

"No M'lady," he whispered back. "You did nothing wrong. This whole thing was my fault. I was pressuring you into doing something that you didn't feel comfortable with, and then I lost my temper. You never would have gotten hurt if I had respected your feelings. I love you so much and I'll never forgive myself for what I've done to you. I just hope that you can forgive me someday."

He said all of that while keeping his eyes closed. Marinette, however, had opened hers at hearing him say that he still loved her. When he was done speaking, she quickly pressed her lips against his.

Surprised, Chat Noir opened his eyes briefly before shutting them again as he melted into the kiss.


	7. The Transporter

Adrien wasn't surprised when he didn't find Marinette in class the next morning when he arrived. After the injuries that she sustained, she needed to stay home and rest.

He settled in his seat and started talking with Nino. Right before class was going to begin, he froze when he saw the beautiful raven-haired girl coming in through the door. With a very obvious limp, she slowly came into the room.

"Oh my goodness, girl!" Alya announced, jumping up and going over to her. "What in the world happened to you? You look like you got hit by a bus!"

Nino and Adrien quickly got up and went over to her too.

"Oh it's nothing," Marinette insisted. "I just fell down my bedroom stairs. It looks a lot worse than it is."

Adrien stared at her. She really didn't look good. Besides the cuts and bruises that he could see, it also looked like she hadn't gotten any sleep. She was probably in too much pain. "You're hurt, Marinette. You should go back home."

"No, it's okay. It's really not that bad. I mean, with my clumsiness I'm kind of used to these things by now."

"Your clumsiness is going to kill you one of these days, you know," Alya told her. "Well if you're going to stay here, at least let me take your backpack for you."

"Thanks Alya," she replied, wincing as she took it off.

"Let me help you to your seat," Adrien said. Before she could respond, he picked her up bridal style.

A few of their classmates snickered as he carried her to her place. She was too shocked to object.

He placed her down gently on her seat.

"Th... thank you Adrien," she sputtered out. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's my pleasure," he said, gazing into her eyes.

With a huge smile Alya slid into the seat next to her. "Wow Adrien, I never realized how strong you are. Isn't he strong, Marinette?"

"Yes, very strong," she mumbled.

"You wouldn't mind carrying Marinette around all day, would you?" Alya asked him. "After all, we don't want her injuring herself more."

"That will _not_ be necessary!" Marinette answered for him, turning towards Alya and glaring at her.

"I would love to," Adrien replied, earning a bigger smile from Alya and a confused expression from Marinette.

"Adrien, you don't have to..."

"It's not a problem at all," he interrupted. "It's obvious that you're having trouble walking, and I'm right here. I don't mind."

"Oh thank you Adrien!" Alya continued. "What a gentleman!"

"Yes, thank you," Marinette repeated.

"You're welcome," he replied softly. After an extra second of looking at her, he turned and sat in his seat.

Alya smirked triumphantly over at her best friend. Marinette rolled her eyes.

************************************

"Are you sure you don't want to go home?" Adrien asked Marinette for about the twenty-eighth time. "You should be resting."

"I'm fine, I swear!"

His face fell. That determination and that stubbornness of hers, it was... ugh, completely irresistible. But no, not right now. Right now it was frustrating. She was pushing herself too much. "I can take you," he continued.

"You're so sweet for offering, but I've already been enough of a burden on you today," she said.

A burden? Absolutely not. It had been a dream come true to carry her around from class to class. The feeling of her arms around his neck was heavenly. Actually being able to feel her skin gave him chills. "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

She shook her head with a smile.

He had to stop himself from leaning in and kissing her right then and there. She was just too beautiful. "Alright, I'll stop asking," he said defeatedly.

"Good!" she teased. Having finished her lunch, she started to stand up.

Adrien instantly stood and grabbed her hand. "Allow me."

She looked up at him. "Adrien, I have to go use the bathroom. And you're _not_ taking me in there. I'll be fine walking by myself."

"Right, of course," he mumbled. "I'll wait for you here, and then take you to history."

"Thanks," she said before walking away. She still had a limp, but it didn't seem as bad as earlier.

Poor Marinette. She was putting on a brave face but he could tell that she was in a lot of pain. He wanted to do something for her, to make her feel better. A smile crept onto his face as an idea came to him. He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons.

************************************

It was the last class of the day. Marinette couldn't wait until it was over so that she could go home and lie down. And hopefully get a nap in before Chat Noir came to visit her that evening.

She paid no attention to the man that walked into the classroom until she heard her name.

"I'm looking for a... Marinette Dupain-Cheng," he said, reading her name from a clipboard.

Miss Bustier pointed in her direction.

She exchanged glances with Alya before slowly raising her hand. The man walked up to her with the clipboard. "I need you to sign here, Miss."

Marinette just stared up at him, utterly confused.

"It's for a delivery," he explained.

She grabbed the pen he was holding out and quickly scribbled her name. Then the man walked back to the door. "In here!" he yelled down the hallway. A few seconds later, three other men walked into the room. Between the three of them, they were carrying six large floral arrangements. Each one contained two dozen pink roses.

Marinette's face couldn't possibly have gotten any paler. She stopped breathing as the men placed the arrangements on her desk and left. All eyes in the room were on her and the ridiculous amount of flowers. "Oh my gosh," she whispered. "I'm going to kill him."

Alya's expression changed from utter confusion to happiness. "Him? Who's him?" she asked excitedly.

The girl looked over at her and blinked. "Uh, uh... them! I said _them_. Uh, my parents, obviously. Yeah. I mean, who else would be sending me flowers?"

"A boy," Alya replied smugly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Marinette turned her attention back to the flowers. They were absolutely beautiful. She half smiled as she looked at them, which didn't go unnoticed by the boy sitting in front of her.

Twenty minutes later the school day was over and she had no idea how she was supposed to get all of the flowers back to her house. Luckily she had plenty of volunteers who offered to bring them for her.

Alya, Nino, Alix, Juleka, Rose and Mylène all carried one arrangement each. Adrien carried Marinette. And they all made the short trip to her house.

She was hoping that they wouldn't run into her parents on the way up to her bedroom, but no luck there.

"Oh my goodness, sweetie," her mother exclaimed when they bumped into her in the living room. "Where did all of those flowers come from?"

"So you didn't send them to Marinette?" Alya quickly asked her.

"No, I'm afraid not. You don't know who sent them? There wasn't a card or anything?"

"Nope, no card," Marinette said, trying to end the conversation.

"Hmm, I guess that she has a secret admirer then," Alya muttered.

"Can we please go upstairs?" Marinette continued. "I need to lie down."

"Go ahead sweetie," her mother said. "I'll come get you when dinner is ready."

The group went up to her bedroom. Adrien put her down on her chaise lounge. He quickly glanced up at her bed where they had been the evening before. How he wished he was back there with her.

The others put the flowers on her computer desk before Alya marched up to her. "Okay girl, spill! You know who sent you those flowers. I distinctly heard you say that you were going to kill _him_ when they were delivered. So come on, tell us!"

"I... I don't know..." she sputtered.

"I'm not buying it," Alya replied, crossing her arms across her chest. "You know that I'm not going to let this go until you tell me. So save yourself the headache and just fess up!"

Marinette covered her face with her hands in exasperation.

Alya gasped. "Oh my gosh, it _is_ a boy! You're totally dating someone!"

All the girls squealed in excitement as Marinette nodded her head to confirm. Nino rolled his eyes. Adrien felt his heart rate increase.

"How long have you been dating?" Mylène asked.

"Not too long," Marinette mumbled.

"Is he super cute?" Alix asked.

She nodded again, her cheeks flushing. Adrien's face was slowly turning red too.

"So, what's his name?" Alya asked.

Suddenly Marinette couldn't breathe. Oh no, this was not good. She didn't know his real name and there was no way that she was going to say 'Chat Noir.' "Uh... uh..." she stuttered. She racked her brain, but there was nothing. She quickly looked around and her eyes landed on Adrien. "Uh... Romeo."

And she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. There was no way that they would believe that.

"Oh, how romantic!" Rose squealed as there was an 'aww' that resounded around the room.

"Romeo huh?" Alya continued. "Of course someone named Romeo would send his girlfriend so many flowers. It all makes sense now!"

"It does?" Marinette asked incredulously.

Adrien had to choke back a laugh.

"Of course it does," Alya said. "I knew that something was going on with you. You've been way too happy lately."

Her face flushed more. "Anyway, my parents don't exactly know about this yet, so I would really appreciate it if you guys didn't say anything."

"Not a problem, Marinette," Juleka said for the group.

"Thank you," she replied, letting out a sigh of relief. "Well, it was so awesome for you guys to help me get back home, but I should try to get some rest now."

"We understand," Alya said, giving her a hug. "After all, you need to save your energy for your lover boy."

"Alya!" Marinette protested as the girls giggled.

"I'm just kidding, girl. But seriously, you should invite him to go to the movies with us tomorrow. I'd really like to meet him."

"Oh, yeah. I'll see if he can go," she lied.

The other girls each hugged her and went back downstairs. Nino waved as he followed them, leaving Adrien as the only one left in the room with her. He started to follow too but stopped at hearing her speak.

"Thank you for helping me out today," Marinette said. "That was really nice of you."

"It was no problem," he replied with a smile. He took a few steps and then kneeled down in front of her. "Do you want me to carry you up... uh, there?" he asked, tilting his head towards her loft.

She raised her eyebrows. "Uh... no, that... that's not necessary," she sputtered. "I can manage."

He nodded but didn't get up. He wanted to kiss her more than anything. And then he wanted to confess who he was so that they could be together in real life. But no, he couldn't do that. She didn't get to decide when her identity was revealed. That decision had been stolen from her. And now he was going to let her choose the moment when she discovered his.

An awkward silence passed. "So," she finally said, "I'm going to lie down. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow. I can't wait." After the words were out he felt his face turning red again.

"Uh yeah, I can't wait for the movie either."

He smiled in relief. She thought he was talking about the movie. "I hope you feel better Marinette."

"Thanks Adrien. And thanks again for today, you're so sweet."

He beamed. She thought that he was sweet. His real self, not just Chat Noir. "Have a great night," he said, getting up and walking to the stairs. With one last look, he climbed down and closed the door behind him. 


	8. The Coincidence

Chat Noir couldn't believe it when he found Ladybug instead of Marinette on her balcony that night.

"M'lady," he said as he landed. "Why did you transform?"

"Well, I figured that you're used to seeing me like this. So I just thought, why not?"

"You... you don't have to do that. I don't mind seeing you at all. I mean, the real you."

"Well to be honest, I kind of feel better now that I'm transformed. I think that the suit is helping me with my injuries. It doesn't hurt as much to walk like this."

That was definitely good to hear. But he was secretly a little disappointed. He really liked being with her as Marinette. "I'm glad."

She crossed her arms. "Now there's something we need to talk about," she said sternly.

"What?" he squeaked out, suddenly terrified.

"We need to talk about the _embarrassingly_ _large_ amount of flowers that were delivered to my school in front of all my friends."

Chat Noir chuckled. "Oh M'lady, no amount of flowers in the whole world would be enough for you!"

"It's not funny," she replied, only half serious. "Now all my friends know that I have a boyfriend."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"You know what's wrong with that! They asked me what your name is, and I had to make something up!" She tipped her head back to look up at the sky. "I still can't believe that they actually bought it."

"So, what name did you pick out for me?" he teased.

She looked back at him. "You _don't_ want to know."

He chuckled again. "Alright M'lady. But I do need to know if you liked the flowers."

Her expression softened. "They made me so happy," she told him. "Although I have to admit that I was a little mad at first. But then I realized that you just wanted to make me feel better. And I _am_ feeling better, because I know that you care about me."

"I care about you so much," he whispered.

"You're too sweet," she whispered back before giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Now come on, let's go inside. It would be really bad if anyone catches Ladybug and Chat Noir smooching on my balcony."

He nodded vigorously. All day long he had been waiting for that moment.

She pulled him by the hand to the hatch and climbed in first. Following behind, he landed next to her on her bed. He quickly leaned her back and crawled on top of her. "I missed you so much today," he purred before kissing along her jaw.

"Oh Kitty, you say that everyday," she laughed.

"Well that's because I miss you everyday."

More laughter. "You know I miss you too." She ran her fingers through his hair as he moved his kisses around her face. Eventually he got back to her lips.

After a few minutes he had to pull back to catch his breath. "Will you please detransform?" he asked. "I want to check on your injuries. You know, to make sure that you're getting better."

With a small sigh she agreed and detransformed. Tikki quickly flew off.

"How's your leg feel?" Chat Noir asked, examining it.

"It's much better. I can walk on it again, just very slowly."

"Well that's good. And your side?"

"Still pretty painful," she admitted.

He nodded as he looked at her arms and legs, checking the cuts. Then he moved his face close to hers to examine the cut on her forehead. Glancing down, he met her gaze. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

The curve of her lips as she smiled drove him absolutely crazy. He needed those lips again, so he went back to kissing her. Then he moved down to her neck, being careful not to press too hard. She tilted her head up slightly to give him better access and he happily obliged.

"Now I understand the real reason that you wanted me to detransform," she giggled.

"It's not... my fault... that your suit... covers you up... so much," he replied in between kisses.

"My silly kitty."

After a minute of making his way up and down her neck, he pushed up on his arms to look at her. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"No Kitty, you can't stay here," she said apologetically. "I'm so exhausted. I barely got any sleep last night, so I really need to rest. And that's not going to happen if you're here with me."

She knew him too well. "I understand," he said. "Can I visit you tomorrow?"

"Uh actually, I'm going out with my friends to a movie tomorrow night. It's kind of a group thing."

Of course, he had almost forgotten. "Oh, that sounds like fun. I hope that you have a good time with your friends. Do you... think it would be alright if I stop by afterwards?"

She smiled up at him. "Only real quick, okay?"

"That's okay with me. As long as I get to see your beautiful face again."

She giggled as he leaned back down to kiss her again.

************************************

Marinette still had a slight limp the next day at school. But she refused to let Adrien carry her around again. She was adamant that she was fine.

She was also adamant that the marks on her neck had been there the day before and were from her fall. Alya simply must not have noticed them.

Adrien stayed as close to Marinette as he could get throughout the day. He was beyond excited that they were going to the movies together that night. Well, not _together_ together. But, you know, in the same group.

As they were going outside at the end of the school day, the four friends were finalizing their plans for the evening.

"So we're all meeting there at six. That way we'll have time to grab some snacks before the movie starts," Alya explained.

"It's not a scary movie, is it?" Marinette asked.

"Don't worry, girl. It's an action movie, you'll be fine."

"Phew!" she replied dramatically, putting the back of her wrist to her forehead.

Adrien laughed. "You know Marinette, if you want, my bodyguard could pick you up at your house to take us together," he said. "That way you wouldn't have to walk there."

"Oh no, my leg is feeling a lot better..." she tried to argue but he interrupted.

"Yeah I know. But we'll be driving right by anyway and it's really not a problem."

She smiled. "Okay, that would be great."

"Awesome," he replied excitedly. "So we'll pick you up at quarter of six."

"Sounds perfect, thanks Adrien."

"You're welcome, I'll see you tonight," he said before walking to the waiting town car.

Alya, who had been listening with great interest, turned towards Marinette. "Do you think that he's been acting a little strange lately?"

She scrunched up her face in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Adrien acting differently. Like how he was carrying you around all day yesterday..."

" _You_ asked him to do that!" Marinette replied quickly.

"Yeah, but he could have easily said 'no.' I mean, did you see the look on his face when I asked? He was thrilled to do it. Then he was hanging all over you today. And just now when he offered to give you a ride to the movies. Your house is _not_ on the way there."

"He's probably just being nice."

"I don't know," Nino chimed in. "I can't even tell you how many times I saw him turning around to look back at you during class today."

"See?" Alya exclaimed. "Something's definitely going on." She paused for a moment. "It's _almost_ as if he's got a crush on you."

That got Marinette to laugh. "Are you even listening to yourself Alya? He's got a girlfriend."

"Right. The mysterious girlfriend that we've never met and he never talks about."

"He talks to me about her."

Alya's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, what if he's trying to make you jealous? That's why he only talks about her with you!"

"Or maybe he just thinks of me as a close friend and likes to confide in me," she countered. "Anyway, what does it even matter? You know I already have a boyfriend."

An audible gasp. "Maybe that's it! Maybe _he's_ jealous! That's why he's been all over you today."

"That makes no sense. He has a girlfriend," Marinette repeated.

She groaned. "Well, _something_ is going on." Her excitement resurfaced. "Hey, did you invite Romeo to go tonight? We can see how Adrien acts around him to see if he's jealous."

"I'm sorry Alya, but Romeo can't make it. He has a family thing."

She frowned. "That's disappointing, I really want to meet him. You know, to make sure that he's good enough for our Marinette. We'll have to plan a double date soon."

"Uh yeah. A double date. Definitely."

************************************

Marinette was already outside when the town car pulled up to her house. Adrien quickly climbed out and walked over to her. Grabbing her hand he guided her inside the car.

"Thanks again for the ride," she said as they buckled their seat belts and his bodyguard started driving.

"It's no problem. Like I said, it's on our way."

"No it's not," she said teasingly.

He chuckled. "Alright, I admit it. It's really not. But I was just worried about you. I didn't want you walking so far with a bad leg..." His eyes widened. "Uh, not that it's bad. It's actually perfect!"

Now her eyes widened.

"No, I didn't mean that," he sputtered, his cheeks flushing. "Wait no, I didn't mean _that_! I meant, yes your leg is perfect, like you. Uh... I mean, normal! Like a normal leg, except not. You know, because it's hurt?" He finally stopped talking and just looked away from her, completely mortified.

After a few seconds Marinette responded. "Yeah I knew what you meant," she said quietly.

Adrien smiled as he stared down at the floor. She was too good to him.

"So uh, Juliet couldn't make it tonight?" she continued.

"No, she couldn't."

"That's too bad. What's she like?"

Adrien put his hand to the back of his neck. "She's loving... beautiful... funny... kind... all-around amazing in every way. Easily the greatest person I've ever met."

"Wow," Marinette murmured. "She sounds wonderful."

He nodded. "Yeah, she is." Then he paused for a minute. He knew that he shouldn't ask, but it would seem strange if he didn't. "Is your boyfriend coming tonight?"

"Uh no, he couldn't make it."

"What's he like?" he asked, unable to stop himself.

A smile crossed Marinette's face as she turned to look out the window. "He's really sweet."

It was as if he was possessed. No matter how much he didn't want to, he kept going. "It seems like you really like him."

After a slight pause, she answered. "I do really like him."

Adrien smiled and looked down at the floor again.

The rest of the car ride passed by in silence as they were each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Once at the theaters they found their friends inside. There was Alya and Nino, Rose and Juleka, Mylène and Ivan, Alix and Max, Kim and Ondine, and Nathaniel and Marc.

"Where's your girlfriend Adrien?" Alya asked as she and Nino went up to them. "She couldn't make it?"

"Unfortunately not," he replied.

She nodded at him. "Marinette's boyfriend couldn't make it either. It's such a shame. I guess you two will just have to keep each other company."

"That's not a problem," Adrien said smiling.

A smirk grew on Alya's face. "So what's your girlfriend like? You never talk about her."

"Oh, uh..." he mumbled. "She's great."

"What's her name?"

"It's Juliet."

Silence as Alya's smirk disappeared. "Your girlfriend's name is Juliet?" she asked slowly.

"Yup," he replied, shifting his feet.

The girl narrowed her eyes as she looked between Adrien and Marinette. "So you're telling me that you're dating a girl named Juliet, and you're dating a boy named Romeo?"

Nino laughed. "Whoa, that's crazy! What are the odds of that?"

"Yeah, what _are_ the odds of that?" Alya repeated.

Marinette faked a laugh. "Wow, I hadn't thought about that before. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Uh yeah," Adrien added. "Super big coincidence."

"Definitely a huge coincidence. Especially since we _just_ went over that play in Miss Bustier's class last month," Alya continued. "Adrien, remind me again, how long have you been dating Juliet?"

He cleared his throat. "A couple of weeks."

The girl nodded again. "Marinette, you started dating Romeo recently too. And now that I think about it... there were... what? Twelve dozen roses sent to you yesterday? That's a lot of expensive flowers. Your boyfriend must have a ton of money, huh?"

"Uh... I don't know. We really don't talk about that stuff," she said, her cheeks turning pink.

"Well, you wouldn't happen to have a picture of him, would you?" Alya asked sweetly.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "We... haven't taken one together yet."

"I see. Adrien, do you have a picture of Juliet?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, I guess we could look her up on social media. Does she have Instagram, or Snapchat, or something?"

He paused momentarily. "Her parents are very overprotective, so she doesn't have anything like that."

"Marinette?" Alya asked.

"Uh, that would be a 'no' for Romeo too," she said quietly.

Alya pursed her lips. "So your boyfriend, named Romeo, is not here. And your girlfriend, named Juliet, is not here. None of us have ever met them before. And neither of you have proof that they even exist."

Marinette smiled nervously. "Look Alya, I think I know what you're getting at, but there's nothing going on between me and Adrien."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're just friends."

Alya snorted. "We've all heard that one before."

"Give it a rest, babe," Nino chimed in. "They say that there's nothing going on, so there's nothing going on. It's just a coincidence."

"Thank you Nino," Marinette said relieved. "Now, I'm going to get some popcorn. The movie will be starting soon."

"I'll come with you," Adrien said. "To uh, get some popcorn too, of course."

Alya glared at them as they walked off together.


	9. The Blunder

The group went outside and chatted after the movie was over. Adrien had thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. But that might have to do with the fact that he sat next to Marinette and got to see her face light up as she watched the screen.

People slowly went home until only the two of them and Alya and Nino were the only ones left.

Alya stared at Adrien and Marinette as they excitedly talked about their favorite part of the movie. She still suspected that something was going on. "Adrien, are you giving Marinette a ride home? You know, since it's completely _not_ on the way to your house?"

His cheeks reddened slightly. "I couldn't let her walk, now could I?"

"No, I definitely couldn't walk," Marinette teased. "Not on my _perfect_ leg and all."

She and Adrien started laughing as Alya got more annoyed. "I don't get it."

"Sorry," Marinette continued. "It's kind of an inside joke."

"Of course it is," she muttered back.

"They're allowed to have inside jokes," Nino reminded her. "I mean, you and I have a ton of them."

She glared at him. "You and I are also dating."

Marinette and Adrien started laughing again.

"Alright, let's go babe," Nino said. "We'll catch you two later." He fist bumped Adrien and waved to Marinette before pulling his girlfriend away.

"Oh poor Alya," Marinette said when they were alone. "She's _really_ going to be disappointed when she meets your girlfriend or my boyfriend."

Adrien smiled. He couldn't wait until the moment when they could tell their friends, and everyone else, that they were dating. No more hiding. No more lies. That would be absolutely wonderful.

"Your bodyguard is running late," Marinette continued.

"Yeah, I guess so. Maybe he got stuck in traffic."

"Well lucky for you, you get stuck waiting with me," she teased. "You know what a wonderful conversationalist I am."

"The best!" he responded.

She crinkled up her nose as she giggled. It was just too cute.

Adrien took a step closer to her. "So what topic are you going to dazzle me with today?"

More laughter. "Hmm, well let me think," she said, tapping her finger against her lips in thought. "Maybe how to use the flat-felled seam properly on denim. That one's always a crowd pleaser."

His smile got wider as she continued.

"Or maybe the difference between organza and tulle. I'm sure you'd be very interested to find out!"

"You know me too well," he joked back.

Even more laughter. "I guess we have a winner then!"

Suddenly Adrien couldn't control himself. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her as he smashed his lips against hers.

And he didn't even realize that he had done anything wrong until he felt Marinette push him back. "What are you doing?" she yelled, moving away from him.

He blinked as he stared at her. He had completely forgotten that he wasn't Chat Noir. He was Adrien.

And she was horrified.

"I... I'm sorry," he stammered. "I forgot where I was."

"Why would you do that?" she yelled, tears coming to her eyes. "I have a boyfriend. And _you_ have a girlfriend!"

"It... it was a mistake. I'm sorry."

She shook her head in despair and half turned away so she wouldn't have to look at him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, tears welling up in his eyes too.

Neither of them spoke for a minute until his bodyguard pulled the car up to the curb.

"We'll take you home," Adrien continued.

Marinette shook her head again. "I'll walk."

"No," he argued. "You're still hurt, and it's too far to walk."

"I'll be fine."

"Please Marinette," he begged. "I won't touch you again. I just want to make sure that you get home safe."

"I'm not going with you," she whispered.

A pause as he thought. "Then go without me. I'll stay here while he drives you back."

"Don't be ridiculous Adrien," she said before walking away.

"Marinette, please wait!" he called out, going after her. He quickly caught up and continued talking as they walked side by side. "I know you're upset but I don't want you hurting yourself again. Please just let us take you back."

She stopped but averted his gaze. Trying to hold back the tears, she was torn about what to do. She knew that she shouldn't be walking that far, especially alone at night. Hurting herself more would only make things worse. But she couldn't transform and travel as Ladybug with Adrien following her. But she also didn't want to accept the ride and let him think that what he did was okay.

Closing her eyes, she thought about Chat Noir. What would he want her to do in that situation? One hundred percent he would want her to be safe.

"Fine, just take me home," she said, opening her eyes again.

Adrien felt relieved. "Thank you Marinette," he sighed. He went over and opened the car door for her.

Still not looking at him, she walked around to the other side of the car and climbed in through the other door.

After watching her he silently climbed in too.

Marinette buckled her seat belt and shifted over as far away from Adrien as she could get. She kept her eyes firmly on the window.

The entire ride passed by in complete silence. As soon as the car stopped in front of her house, she quickly undid her seat belt and opened the door.

"I'm sorry," he tried to say but she climbed out and slammed the door shut behind her. Without looking back she went into her house.

************************************

Marinette was on her balcony when Chat Noir arrived about thirty minutes later. She started crying again when she saw him.

He immediately wrapped her up in a hug when he landed. "M'lady, what's wrong?" he asked gently. His heart ached knowing that _he_ was the cause for all of her grief.

She sobbed for a minute before she spoke. "Something happened tonight that I need to tell you about."

"You can always tell me anything," he whispered, not letting go of her.

Pulling back, she reached up and wiped her face. "Maybe we should go inside."

He nodded and brought her over to the hatch.

Once they were on her bed, she hugged him again. "I'm so sorry Kitty," she cried.

Moving back, he pushed the bangs away from her eyes. "I love you Marinette. I'll always love you, no matter what. Just tell me what happened."

She nodded. "I went to the movies, and after it was done I was outside waiting for a ride home. I was waiting with one of my friends. We were just talking, and then all of a sudden he stepped forward and kissed me." A sob escaped her lips as she looked down. "I pushed him away as soon as I realized what was happening. I swear, it didn't mean anything. I don't even understand why he did it. He knows that I'm dating someone. And he has a girlfriend too. I just, I feel horrible that I let it happen." Another sob. "I'm so sorry," she finished with a whisper.

Chat Noir hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her head back up so she was looking at him. "There's nothing to be sorry for, M'lady. It's obvious that you didn't want this to happen." Another sob before he continued. "Please, don't cry Marinette. I love you, and I don't care that some random boy kissed you."

She shook her head. "It wasn't just some random boy."

His face fell. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused.

"Chat, I don't want to lie to you. I have to lie to my parents, and my friends, and everyone else. But I don't want to lie to you too. And not telling you the whole truth is the same thing as a lie. So, there's something you need to know."

Now he really didn't know what was going on. "What is it?"

She sniffled. "Do you remember how I wouldn't date you before because I was in love with another boy?"

Chat Noir blinked. "Yeah..." he said slowly.

"He's the one who kissed me today."

His eyes blew open wide and he dropped his hand down. "Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. But I swear, I don't have feelings for him anymore."

He stared at her in shock. He couldn't believe it; _he_ was the boy that stopped Ladybug from giving Chat Noir a chance way back when. Marinette was in love with Adrien the whole time that he was in love with her.

"But he's also the reason that we're together now," she continued. "That first day that I kissed you, I was upset because I saw him with another girl. I figured that he was dating her so I knew that I had to finally move on. And it turned out that he wasn't even dating her, he was dating someone else. I... I still don't really understand what was going on... but it doesn't matter. I don't want to be with him anymore. I want to be with you." She tilted her head as another tear fell down her cheek. "Because I'm in love with you," she whispered.

Silence as the moment lingered.

"You're in love with me?" Chat Noir repeated, afraid that he had misheard what she said.

She nodded.

"You love me?" he asked again, tears welling up.

"Yes Kitty, I love you. And I'm _in_ love with you."

He quickly leaned forward and kissed her. And he was so happy to feel her respond to him this time. Her fingers criss-crossed through his hair as she pulled him closer.

When they stopped kissing he pressed his forehead against hers. "Please tell me that you enjoyed that kiss more than your last one."

"Only about a million times more." She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "I'm so relieved that you're not angry. I was so worried that I had ruined everything between us."

"You did nothing wrong, M'lady. It was _him_."

"I still don't understand why he even did it."

"I know why," he said softly.

She pulled away and scrunched her face up. "You do?"

"Of course. Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You're _gorgeous_. I'm sure every boy that sees you wants to kiss you at some point."

"Chat!" she exclaimed, laughing.

"What? It's true," he continued.

When she was done laughing she put her hand to his cheek. "Thank you for being so understanding about this whole situation. I thought for sure that you were going to ask me for his name so you could go and cataclysm his face or something," she chuckled.

"Who says I'm not?" he joked.

"You're too good for that, my Kitty," she whispered before kissing him again. When she pulled back she just smiled at him.

"What?" he asked.

A bigger smile. "I think I'm ready."

He blinked. "Ready... for what?"

"To find out who you are."

Now he was definitely going to cry. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I want us to be together in real life. What do you think?"

All he could do was nod his response. He was too overcome with emotion to speak. After a quick embrace, they went back to kissing.

"So, when do you want to do this?" he finally asked as they broke apart.

"Whenever you want to," Marinette replied. "I kind of messed up our original reveal plans, so I want you to pick when and where and how we do this."

"You didn't mess up _anything_ M'lady. I would love to reveal my identity to you right now, but I have to do one thing first. How about tomorrow night? We can meet at our spot."

"That sounds wonderful."


	10. The Destination

Marinette had an even brighter smile than normal on Saturday morning as she worked the counter in her parent's bakery. That night was going to be the night. The night when she would officially meet her boyfriend.

It was crazy to think that she had fallen in love with someone without ever knowing his real name or what he looked like. Yet there she was, completely in love. And in the end, it didn't matter that she didn't know his name or how he looked. Because she already knew who he was; he was the most loving and caring person she had ever met. There was simply no denying the beautiful soul that was inside of him.

She carried that bright smile around all day. That is, until she noticed a particular person walking into her parent's bakery.

"Adrien!" her mother announced at seeing the blonde-haired boy. "How wonderful to see you again."

"Thanks Mrs Cheng," he replied before looking over at Marinette. "Hi."

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

"Now Marinette, that's no way to greet one of your friends!"

"Who says that he's one of my friends?" she mumbled quietly.

"What can I help you with?" her mother continued, ignoring her daughter.

"I was actually hoping to speak with Marinette," Adrien replied.

"Of course. Sweetie, why don't you take a break so you two can talk?"

"I don't need a break..."

"Nonsense! Now go!" her mother commanded.

The girl groaned and reluctantly walked around the counter. Adrien opened the door and gestured for her to go outside. She obeyed with a huff.

Once on the sidewalk Marinette took a few steps away, making sure that she was out of reach. There was no way that she would let a repeat of last night happen.

Adrien took a deep breath when he faced her. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was completely out of line and it was inexcusable."

She didn't respond.

"I'm really, really sorry Marinette. I feel horrible that I made you so uncomfortable. Please forgive me."

Half a minute passed before she spoke. "Let's just forget about it. I have to get back to work." She moved to go inside.

"No wait," he begged. "I wanted to explain what happened."

She stopped and looked at him. "Okay, explain."

He nodded. "I meant what I said in the car about my girlfriend. She _is_ loving, and beautiful, and funny, and kind, and amazing. And she reminds me of you."

Marinette dropped her gaze to the ground.

"When you meet her you'll understand," he continued. "Yesterday I got mixed up for a second, and I made a huge mistake. I'm sorry." Then he stopped talking and waited for her reaction.

After a moment she looked back up at him. "Don't think that I'm going to forgive you just because you called me 'beautiful,' okay?"

"I understand," he whispered.

The tiniest bit of a smile crept onto her face. "I'm going to forgive you because you called me 'kind.' And I have to live up to the compliment."

Adrien smiled.

"And also because my boyfriend was really cool about the whole situation," she added. "So you should be thanking your lucky stars right now. But there is one thing you need to keep in mind, Adrien. If you _ever_ touch me again I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't hesitate to beat the living daylights out of you."

He laughed. "Well, I guess that he could always _try_."

She scoffed. "Oh he would drop you like a sack of dirt, Agreste."

More laughter. "Okay, okay. I understand."

"Good," she replied, nodding. "Now, I'm going back inside. Do you want something to eat, or are you leaving?"

"You're not going to poison me or anything, are you?" he teased.

She looked up, pretending to be lost in thought. "Hmmm... no, I guess not. I'm in a good mood today."

"Well that's a relief."

Now a real smile. "Come on, we have plenty of croissants. I know they're your favorite."

"How do you know that?" he asked as they went back inside.

"Ugh, you _don't_ want to know!"

************************************

This was it, the moment that Chat Noir had been looking forward to for over a year. Ladybug was finally going to know his identity. Marinette was going to know that it was him.

He was beyond thrilled that he was able to make amends with her as Adrien. The last thing he wanted was for her to still be angry with him at the reveal. That would really put a damper on things.

A single pink rose clutched in his hand, he watched Ladybug land in front of him. He held it out to her as she stepped forward.

She grabbed the flower and put it up to her face to smell it. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome M'lady."

Tucking the rose behind her ear, she smiled. "Are you ready?"

"I'm more than ready. But I want you to detransform first. I want Marinette to be the one to find out who I am."

She nodded. "Spots off."

Marinette appeared where Ladybug was standing a second before, Tikki at her side.

"What do you think, Tikki?" Chat Noir asked her. "Do you think that Marinette will be happy when she finds out who I am?"

The kwami giggled. "I have a really good feeling that she will be."

"That's right," Marinette said, looking over at Tikki. "You've known who he is for months now. I almost forgot."

"Well, why don't I make myself scarce. I'll let you two enjoy this moment alone."

"Thanks Tikki," Chat Noir said as the kwami flew away. Then he grabbed Marinette's hands. "Ready?"

"I'm super nervous," she admitted.

He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Don't be nervous, it's just me."

She nodded. "Is it okay if I close my eyes?"

"That kind of defeats the purpose Marinette," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. But just for now? Until I'm ready to look?"

"Alright," Chat Noir agreed quietly.

"Thank you," she murmured. She pressed up onto her toes and kissed him. When she leaned back she closed her eyes again. "Go ahead."

He squeezed her hands before he released his transformation. "Claws in."

"Seriously?" Plagg whined, appearing next to Adrien. "You're not even going to look, Marinette?"

"I'm going to look. I just need a minute to mentally prepare myself."

The kwami sighed before flying off.

Adrien and Marinette stood face to face, holding hands. After a moment, she spoke. "I can actually feel your hands, not your gloves," she whispered as tears came to her eyes.

"Yeah, I really like it," Adrien replied.

"Your voice sounds the same. I don't know why, but I was expecting it to sound different."

"I hope you're not disappointed."

"Oh Kitty, I could never be disappointed by you." She let go of his hands and reached up, finding his face. Then she wrapped her hands around his neck as she pulled him close and kissed him. "Wow," she sighed as they separated, keeping her eyes closed. "It's good to know that you're still a fantastic kisser even as your real self."

Adrien laughed and pressed his forehead against hers. "You're pretty fantastic yourself, M'lady."

She smiled. "What's your name?"

After a pause, he gave his answer. "Romeo."

Her face fell as she moved her head back in surprise. "You're kidding!"

"Yeah, I'm just messing with you," he laughed. "I know that's the name you told your friends."

"How... how did you know that? I never told you the name I came up with."

He moved one hand up and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. "I know because I was there when you made it up."

"No, you weren't," she said slowly. "I was in my room with my friends."

"Exactly."

Silence for a moment. "Are you trying to tell me that you're already one of my friends?"

"Yes, that's precisely what I'm trying to tell you."

She shook her head in confusion. "There's no way that you were there. You can't be Nino, for more than one reason. And the only other boy there was Adri..." She stopped.

The sights and sounds of the bustling city moved around them, but they were perfectly still as they stood there holding on to each other.

After a minute that was simultaneously a lifetime, a single tear fell down Marinette's cheek. "If I open my eyes right now, will I see Adrien Agreste looking back at me?"

A sweet smile. "If you open your eyes right now, you'll see the boy that has been in love with you since the day we met," he whispered.

And that was the moment. Marinette opened her eyes and stared at the boy in front of her. There was no reaction from either of them. They simply stared at the other.

"Adrien?" she finally whispered.

"Yes M'lady?"

She shook her head slightly. "This isn't possible. We've saved you before."

Now he shook his head. "No, it was always you who saved me."

"But what about Juliet?"

"Oh M'lady, don't you see? _You_ are Juliet. The girl I was talking about was you. Every single time. You were my hot date. You were the one I upset and had to apologize to. And you are definitely the loving, beautiful, funny, kind, amazing girl that I described in the car yesterday."

She nodded, trying to keep the tears from falling. "I guess that explains why you kissed me then," she choked out with a small laugh.

He nodded too. "I told you that I got mixed up. But I wasn't mixed up about who I was kissing. I was mixed up about who I _was_ at the moment. I wasn't Chat Noir, I was just Adrien. And I forgot. It was as simple as that."

"That makes a lot of sense."

He reached up and pushed the bangs away from her eyes. "I love you Marinette. Now that everything is finally out in the open, I only need to know one more thing. Will you please keep being my girlfriend?"

She tilted her head. "I think that's my favorite question yet."

A relieved smile appeared on his face. He started to lean towards her but stopped as her expression changed. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed suddenly. "Alya was right! We totally _ar_ _e_ secretly dating each other." She closed her eyes. "Ugh, I am _never_ going to hear the end of this!"

Adrien laughed. "Oh come on, she'll be thrilled. Now we can finally go on a double date with her and Nino."

She opened her eyes. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"And so what if we made up fake names for each other? We'll just play it off like we were trying to be romantic. I mean, there's nothing more romantic than 'Romeo and Juliet,' right?" he asked, leaning in again.

Marinette leaned away from him in confusion. "Were you even paying attention to Miss Bustier's lesson? 'Romeo and Juliet' wasn't a romance, it was a tragedy. It was a three day love affair between a thirteen year old and a seventeen year old where six people died."

He blinked at her.

She blinked back at him. "You're right. Let's go with it being romantic."

Adrien smiled. "Okay."

"Okay."

After a second he leaned in again. This time his lips met their destination.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an extra chapter that wasn't originally part of the story. Some of my lovely readers requested that I include a little more. So this is for them.

Adrien was the first to arrive at school on Monday morning. He got there a little earlier than usual, not wanting to miss his chance to talk with Marinette before class. But unfortunately Nino and Alya arrived before her.

He gave Nino a half-convincing smile. "Hey man, how was your weekend?"

"It was awesome," Nino replied, taking his seat next to him. "What about yours?"

"It was fine," Adrien answered nonchalantly. It was actually the best two days of his whole life, but he wasn't going to say that. He wouldn't be able to explain why. Not yet, at least.

And then it happened. Marinette walked into the classroom. His heart caught in his chest seeing her beautiful blue eyes sparkling at him.

"Hey," she said to the group casually, taking her seat behind him.

Adrien had spun around in his place as she moved past him, refusing to miss one single second of looking at her. "Hey Marinette."

She smiled, which shifted his focus from her eyes to her lips. How he yearned to have those sweet lips on him again.

"Hey girl," Alya chimed, ruining the moment between them.

Marinette looked over at her best friend as they started their own conversation. They didn't get very far though.

"Can we help you with something?" Alya suddenly asked Adrien with slight annoyance, noticing him staring at Marinette.

"Uh... no," he stammered before spinning back around to face the front of the classroom.

"Anyway," Alya continued. "Did you see your boyfriend this weekend?" she asked Marinette.

"Uh yeah, I did." It wasn't a lie.

"Get a picture of him yet?"

"No, not yet."

An exasperated sigh. "Well if you _happen_ to see him soon," she said, glaring at the back of Adrien's head, "invite him to go to the park with us this week."

"I will," Marinette mumbled.

Then the girls turned their attention to Miss Bustier as she started teaching.

Adrien didn't really listen to the lesson though. He was too busy thinking about Marinette and when they would get the chance to be alone. He tried to turn around and sneak a glimpse of her, but instead found Alya narrowing her eyes at him. So he quickly pretended that he was stretching and turned back to the teacher, disappointed.

After an agonizingly long class, the bell finally rang. Gathering his things very slowly, Adrien looked back at the girl behind him. She was also taking her time putting her books away.

Alya stood up by her seat, waiting for her.

"You go ahead Alya," Marinette insisted. "I'll catch up with you."

She narrowed her eyes again, looking back and forth between Marinette and Adrien. "No, it's okay. I'll wait."

Adrien groaned quietly and slung the strap of his bag over his shoulder. Then he waited for Marinette to finish getting ready. "So, uh... how was your weekend?" he asked as the four friends went down the hall together to chemistry.

"It was great," Marinette replied bashfully. "What about yours?"

"Absolutely amazing," he gushed before clearing his throat.

She looked down at the floor, her cheeks flushing a deeper red. "That's nice."

They kept walking side by side behind Alya and Nino. They were almost at the door when Adrien suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her to the classroom next to the chemistry lab.

Finding themselves alone he quickly pulled her in for a kiss. After being surprised for a split second, she responded in turn, wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh M'lady," he sighed, finally breaking away. "It's so nice to kiss you again."

"You're going to get us in trouble," she responded cheekily.

"It's worth it," he whispered before pressing his lips to hers.

She had to push him back. "Kitty, we're going to be late."

"Yeah I know," he said. "Can we at least tell Alya and Nino that we're dating? You know I can't keep my hands off of you."

She laughed. "You were able to control yourself on Thursday and Friday. Why can't you control yourself today?"

"Because now you keep looking at me like that and smiling. Right there, that's the look. Like you _want_ me to kiss you."

"Well, I do want you to kiss me," she murmured, caressing his cheek. "But you can't. Not until we tell them that we're dating at the end of the day. I don't want to hear Alya yelling at me all day long about how she was right."

Adrien pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips.

"It's only a few more hours, Kitty. After that you can kiss me whenever you want. I promise."

That got a smile out of him. "Alright. I guess I can hold off for the rest of the day."

"Thank you. Now come on, we're already late!"

"One more," he insisted, leaning in and capturing a loving kiss from her. "Ugh," he groaned when they separated. "Your sweet lips are going to be the death of me, M'lady."

Marinette laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the chemistry lab.

************************************

Adrien tried to stay away from Marinette that day. He really did. But 'trying' and 'succeeding' are two completely different things.

After lunch, they found themselves in another empty classroom. So of course they had to take advantage of it. She jumped up into his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso as he pressed her against the wall.

"How's... your leg?" he asked in between kisses.

"Better," she replied, not wanting to waste time with talking.

"I'm not... hurting you... am I?"

"No, just keep going."

And Adrien couldn't get enough of her. His lips moved down her neck, hungry for more skin to mark as his own.

They were so engrossed in each other that they didn't even hear the door open. They had no idea that anyone else was there until they heard a screech.

"I knew it!" a voice yelled, causing the couple to flinch and quickly look over at the door.

Alya and Nino were standing there, her with an angry expression, him with an amused expression.

After freezing for a second, Marinette quickly lowered her legs down to the floor and Adrien took a step back.

"You are so dead!" Alya continued, walking towards them.

"Alya, this uh... this isn't what it looks like..." Marinette tried to say.

"Stop! Lying! To! Me!" the girl yelled, taking her notebook and smacking Marinette on the arm with every word.

Nino extended his hand out to Adrien. "Nice, dude."

Adrien laughed and fist bumped him.

"I can't believe that you didn't even tell your best friends that you were dating each other!" Alya continued yelling.

"I'm sorry," Marinette said back. "We were going to tell you guys later today, I swear!"

"So, there is no Romeo, right? You were talking about him the whole time?"

Marinette nodded.

"And there is no Juliet, right?" Alya asked, turning to Adrien. "You were talking about her?"

He nodded.

"I knew it!" she screamed again. "You guys are so bad at keeping secrets, it's unbelievable!"

They exchanged glances. "Yeah, you got us," Adrien replied, trying not to smile.

Alya sighed and paused for a moment. "Alright, I'm sorry for yelling at you two. But come on, don't lie to us. _Especially_ about stuff like this. You know that we don't care that you're dating. If anything, we're thrilled about it."

"I'm really sorry," Marinette said.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," Adrien added.

A small smile crossed Alya's face. "Well lucky for you, you have some awesome best friends who won't hold this against you." A bigger smile. "Oh my gosh, we have to plan a double date soon!"

"Definitely," Marinette replied, this time fully intending on following through.

"Oh I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun!"

"Yeah it is," Nino agreed.

"And it will be our treat," Adrien said. "To make it up to you."

"Deal," Alya replied. "Alright well, I guess me and Nino are going to head off to class. You two still have a few minutes, so carry on," she said, pulling her boyfriend towards the door.

Nino gave a quick wave as they left the room.

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other. Then she tilted her head and smiled. Adrien took that as an invitation to wrap her up and press his lips to hers again.


End file.
